In the manufacture of absorbent disposable articles, such as diapers, sanitary napkins and incontinence guards, a continuous web of material is conveyed through a process line, this material being either plastic film or nonwoven material. Various operations are performed in the process line, such as the placing of one or more absorbent cores on the web, the application of elastic, the application of an outer casing sheet, etc. Individual articles are separated from the continuous web of article blanks in a terminal stage of the process. In order for this process to proceed smoothly without interruptions, it is very important that the tension in the delivered web is constant at its point of delivery.
The web delivered to the process line is taken from storage reels, which are carried in pairs by a reel stand which includes means for splicing the tailing end of the web on one reel with the leading end of the web on the other reel, so that web material will be delivered continuously to the process line. These reel stands are often provided with units which are intended to ensure that the tension in the web leaving the reel stand is constant, even during the process of splicing together the webs of the old and the new reels while accelerating the new reel. It has been found that even though the tension in the web leaving the reel stand has a predetermined value, the web tension will vary at the point of its delivery to the process line, particularly when the reel stand is located at some distance from the delivery point, this variation being due to the inertia of the supporting rollers which guide the web in the space between reel stand and process line.